Bus cuts would leave North Kerry stranded
‘Nail in the coffin of rural Ireland’
FEAR is mounting that North Kerry could lose its major public bus route within months amid widespread cuts planned by Bus Éireann in a bid to avoid going bust.
Most at risk in North Kerry is the route 13 Expressway bus service. Fianna Fáil County Councillor Jimmy Moloney said the loss of this service would leave hundreds of passengers in the region high and dry.
His comments came head of a public meeting in Listowel convened by the National Bus and Rail Union on Tuesday night.
NBRU General Secretary Dermot O’Leary warned the route could be gone within months under the cost-cutting moves.
Hundreds of customers, from students to the elderly, would be stranded, Cllr Moloney warned. “We’ve already put up with years of closures, from post offices to garda stations and bank branches and now this...It would be another nail in the coffin of rural Ireland.”
RURAL Kerry is gearing up for another major fight over threats to vital services, this time in the guise of key Bus Éireann routes between towns and villages that represent the only affordable means of transport for hundreds.
Specific threats to Kerry’s public transport were flagged this week by National Bus and Rail Union’s (NBRU) Dermot O’Leary ahead of a public meeting he will be attending at the Listowel Arms Hotel on Tuesday night.
It is feared if cuts currently being outlined to avert insolvency at the semi-state company are made that the main public bus route through North Kerry - number 13 - could be lost entirely, leaving hundreds of passengers who depend on it high and dry.
“What more are they going to take from rural Ireland? We’ve already put up with years of closures, from post offices to garda stations and bank branches and now this? From what the NBRU are telling us we could now lose the main bus route still serving Listowel and the smaller towns and villages of Abbeyfeale, Duagh, Kilflynn on the route from Limerick to Tralee,” Listowel Fianna Fáil County Councillor Jimmy Moloney told The Kerryman this week.
The NBRU is now warning of the ‘potential’ loss of Bus Éireann’s Expressway Service - which includes the Limerick/ Tralee and route number 14 from Limerick to Killarney via Kerry Airport. Eight buses ply the number 13 route daily.
“The threat comes amid the background of the company giving out licences to private operators but I fail to see how any private operator would find our route viable,” Cllr Moloney said, adding:
“Hundreds of customers rely on this service from the elderly getting into town on daily business to students who can ill afford cars due to rising insurance costs.
“It’s time for all politicians to come together and fight this now.”